Department Store

Dillard’s reported moderate growth in net income and sales during the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Compared to the same period a year earlier, net income increased 5% to $50.9 million from $48.5 million, while net sales climbed about 1% to $1.51 billion from $1.49 billion.

Toronto -- To help increase profitability, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) launched a promotion optimization initiative in Canada to improve the ROI of its flyers, or newspaper ads. HBC worked with Saferock to develop the solution, which uses sophisticated analytics to analyze millions of records each week.

London -- Disney U.K. is teaming up with Harrods to open a Cinderella-inspired "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique" at the world famous department store, marking the first time that a Disney Parks and Resorts concept has been recreated in the United Kingdom. The boutique will be the centerpiece of partnership between Disney and Harrods that also includes a dedicated Disney Store, which opened on Nov. 1. .

New York — SL Green Realty Corp. and partner Jeff Sutton have announced the formation of a venture that has acquired a 49-year leasehold interest covering the entire retail portion of 650 Fifth Avenue. The transaction was completed with former U. S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen A. Roberts, the court-appointed federal monitor and interim trustee of the landlord, 650 Fifth Avenue Company.

True Religion Apparel has appointed Mary Alderete as the company’s chief marketing officer. Alderete, who will report to CEO David Conn, will be charged with shaping the marketing strategy for True Religion across the company’s retail, wholesale, international and e-commerce platforms.

New York -- Macy's reported a profit for the third quarter that easily exceeded Wall Street, helped by stepped up marketing.

For the quarter ended Nov. 2, Macy's earned $177 million, up from $145 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 3% to $6.28 billion. Same-store sales increased 3.5%, beating the 2.1% rise analysts expected.

Sales trends improved in every region, and both the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s chains performed well, the retailer said.

Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Seattle -- PlayNetwork, a leader in branded entertainment media experiences, announced it is providing music programming and installing state-of-the-art media systems for the Levi's brand in 1,500 stores around the globe, including all U.S. locations.